Alief Taylor's Allen Ross is pressure by Belliare's Alan Long as he drives to the basket during a Class 5A Region III quarterfinal basketball game Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at the M.O. Campbell Center in Houston.

Photo: Bob Levey, Houston Chronicle

Alief Taylor's Allen Ross is pressure by Belliare's Alan Long as he...

Westside's junior center missed his first three shots and another two from the foul line. He didn't score until 38 seconds remained in the first half.

A free throw did it for him, and Iheanacho controlled both ends of the court down the stretch as the Wolves rallied against Elsik on Tuesday night. They sent the game into overtime and went on to win 73-66 in a Class 5A Region III quarterfinal doubleheader at the Campbell Center.

"I really couldn't find anything going down, so that free throw got me through it," said Iheanacho, who finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. "Throughout the game, I was thinking, 'I don't want to lose.' And I just had to do it for the seniors."

Westside will face Travis, a 79-40 winner Tuesday over Clear Brook, in Friday's semifinals. They'll play at 6 p.m. at the Campbell Center, with Bellaire-Bush to follow.

Bellaire beat Alief Taylor 49-44 in Tuesday's second game at Campbell, icing a back-and-forth finish on a pair of Christian James free throws with 10 seconds left. Bush beat North Shore 70-65 in double overtime.

Robert Hatter had a team-high 22 points for Westside. Da'Shawn Robinson and Michael Ashiofu each scored 21 for Elsik.

The Rams controlled the pace — and the rebounding — throughout the first half and well into the third quarter. When Westside opened the second half with a 12-5 run to make it 40-40, the Rams answered by scoring 11 of the next 16 points.

Westside slowly closed the gap as Elsik failed to score in the final 2:25 of regulation. Hatter cut it to 61-60 on a jumper, and Iheanacho tied it from the free-throw line with 14.5 seconds left.

"We found ourselves in an unfamiliar position being down," Westside coach Deon Williams said.

In overtime, Iheanacho had four rebounds and a pair of steals to go with two points. The Wolves opened on a 7-3 run and didn't look back.

"He took the bull by the horns," Williams said of Iheanacho. "I just reminded him that it's win or go home."

Bellaire, which was led by James' 16 points, trailed 7-0 at one point and 11-4 after a quarter.

"You can struggle on offense; you just can't struggle on both ends," Cardinals coach Bruce Glover said. "We struggled on both ends, but we found a way down the stretch. I don't know how, but we did."